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-- My guess as to why dance music is more disposable than ever
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I agree with some of you here.

That's why you need to keep some things in mind. As many say, everyone now is a "musician" because they draw notes on a computer screen using cracked software without even knowing what they're doing, and those fearless people whore themselves out.

No panic though, for those reasons:

1�) the transition period is almost over, and a new business model is slowly rising into our community. Of course we'll have to adapt ourselves and whore ourselves a little bit more if we want to get a little bit result.

2�) Labels started releasing less music in some cases, going for personal taste first.

3�) The new decade is being seen by many as the decade of performing. Until now, we were manufacturing dance music, it's about time to come out and PLAY it LIVE. I think many don't realize how much impact it will have on the electronic music culture and scenes in the next few years.

And don't worry, only the surface of things keeps getting worse because we all are into niche markets right now and we only see those whoring more than the good ones. Some go to the right and some others go leftfield, while there's a highway in the middle... Let's accept the transition and move on!

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Is it just me, or is it mostly a fashion statement to bitch about how much every person's favorite genre sucks and keeps getting suckier? That's not aimed at anyone in particular, but it seems that every forum I've been on for as long I can remember has people comlaining incessantly about how much their favorite genre sucks, is being destroyed by a handful of "sellouts", keeps getting worse, etc. I hope I never I get so old that I can't appreciate new music.

Try living in the UK

What you described is now a national sport.

quote:

Originally posted by Lolo 3�) The new decade is being seen by many as the decade of performing. Until now, we were manufacturing dance music, it's about time to come out and PLAY it LIVE. I think many don't realize how much impact it will have on the electronic music culture and scenes in the next few years.

Any ideas on how to achieve this from a technical standpoint?

quote:

Originally posted by tehlord What you described is now a national sport.

My brother-in-law has a family in the UK. He tells me that bitching about football (soccer, not the US kind) is the unofficial national sport.

I think the rise of mp3 distribution has changed the way labels release music. Pressing vinyl was expensive and required a serious decision on what to release where as mp3s that don't sell well don't necessarily cost money. The result is a market flooded with bad music. I think the net amount of good music is still consistent but it seems lower with all the crap diluting the music pool.

This is why:

http://tranceaddict.com/forums/show...3&forumid=48&s=

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Is it just me, or is it mostly a fashion statement to bitch about how much every person's favorite genre sucks and keeps getting suckier?

Well if it's worth anything, I seem to be one of the few people here that actually enjoys modern trance.

Really, though, trance has been around for over 20 years, why are people continuing to act surprised that it's no longer the same as it was in the 90's? Look at how much rock changed in 20 years, you went from Frampton and The Beatles and groups like that in the 60's to alternative, punk and heavy metal coming out in the late 70's/early 80's. It was all under the same umbrella genre of rock, but people probably thought The Ramones and The Misfits were destroying what "true" rock was of their time, even though they're both still very influential bands. And the differences from then to now, things have constantly changed, but has it all been for the worse?

I'm just using rock as a relatable example, but why is trance so different? Why can't people just acknowledge that the genres and the sounds are changing without first saying that what it used to be was inherently better?

Didn't mean to derail whatever this thread was about, but that's been something I've been thinking about for a while.

^^^3 nails/3 hammers^^^

I especially agree with Kysora - music is constantly changing, as are people's tastes. I think nostalgia has a lot to do with it - people want to constantly re-experience that nostalgic feeling they got when they first got excited about a particular style, and they get disappointed when their genre evolves beyond it, they get too comfortable with the genre, and they can't get that experience back. That's just an educated guess, but it definitely applies to me.

It seems to me that there's just less and less variety available as time goes on. Back in the day you could go to a party and there would be 7 different flavors of house, hard trance, prog trance, psy-trance, minimal techno, drum and bass (tech-step, dark-core, ragga) happy hardcore, regular hardcore, hard techno on the main stage at peak-time, and so on.

Now apparently the only genres that exist are fruit trance, minimal, electro and dub-step. And these genres are pigeonholed to sound indistinguishable from one track to the next.

I have to imagine the availability of music available at parties doesn't really reflect how much music really is out there, but I get your point.

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik I think nostalgia has a lot to do with it - people want to constantly re-experience that nostalgic feeling they got when they first got excited about a particular style, and they get disappointed when their genre evolves beyond it, they get too comfortable with the genre, and they can't get that experience back.

Pretty much. The really uncomfortable thing about it to me is how people reflect their own individual tastes about trance as the collective idea of what trance is and what it should be. Music doesn't even seem to work on an individual level anymore, people are always arguing about where the genre is going and if it's past its prime, but really, those arguments never go anywhere specifically because people don't listen to music for those reasons. They listen to the music they listen to because they enjoy it and nobody should try to convince them that they're wrong for doing so.

quote:

Originally posted by Kysora I have to imagine the availability of music available at parties doesn't really reflect how much music really is out there, but I get your point.

It reflects what promoters are comfortable with, which reflects what labels are comfortable signing, which reflects their idea of what people want to hear.

quote:

Originally posted by meriter It reflects what promoters are comfortable with, which reflects what labels are comfortable signing, which reflects their idea of what people want to hear.

it doesn't help that couple of dud releases in a row can sink a rickety ship of a label on the margin, although switching to cheaper digital from vinyl releases supposedly has alleviated some of that risk. you'd expect releases from these independents that are different and more daring...

Related discussion I had with a friend over weekend: how many great bands from 70s and 80s are Still relevant today and are just as enjoyable as ever. Now, how many from 90s and 2000s? Not as much.

Using pink floyd as one of my favorite analogies - they pushed boundaries, experimented, carved their own sound and style. Name one band that can be mistaken for floyd? Or Zeppelin or Yes or rush or new order or depeche mode?

Today, very few acts that stand out - some earlier Sigur Ros, immogen heap, perhaps BT. There's something to be said about taking the road less traveled. Just my cliche $0.02

http://www.hulu.com/watch/62945/before-the-music-dies

This documentary explores the reason why so few companies currently control the music played on the radio and for sale at retail stores, and whether corporations really have the power to silence musical innovation.

Did anyone read my post or did you guys just estimate what I wrote based on the subject heading?

I don't really have an opinion on compressed music since I've never been bothered by it. I was just responding to Cryophonik

a nice article related to topic "The Loudness Wars: Why Music Sounds Worse"

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/...058&sc=fb&cc=fp

To answer the op - yes, compressor or limiter will mess with the transients and getting the ballances right definitely is an art that cannot be just guessed. The psychoacoustics is a very complex science and understanding how it affects perception, as well as repeated listening enjoyment takes a lot of trial and error. So, it's quite possible ther is some merit to your observation. However, my personal opinion is that it is not such an outstanding or groundbreaking track to begin with. I actually LOL at it every time I hear it - it makes me think of some Transformers battle scene full of Michael Bay silliness that accompanies it. No offense but IMO it's hardly original or has any repeat listening value.

If the subject matter is of serious interest, track itself notwithstanding, I'd recommend picking up a book called - "this is your brain on music". Very interesting book, touching on numeber of aspects as to why music affects us in various ways and how the mind operates under it's influence. Check it out, if u can.

quote:

Originally posted by aNYthing To answer the op - yes, compressor or limiter will mess with the transients and getting the ballances right definitely is an art that cannot be just guessed. The psychoacoustics is a very complex science and understanding how it affects perception, as well as repeated listening enjoyment takes a lot of trial and error. So, it's quite possible ther is some merit to your observation. However, my personal opinion is that it is not such an outstanding or groundbreaking track to begin with. I actually LOL at it every time I hear it - it makes me think of some Transformers battle scene full of Michael Bay silliness that accompanies it. No offense but IMO it's hardly original or has any repeat listening value. If the subject matter is of serious interest, track itself notwithstanding, I'd recommend picking up a book called - "this is your brain on music". Very interesting book, touching on numeber of aspects as to why music affects us in various ways and how the mind operates under it's influence. Check it out, if u can.

I do not follow your argument. I never said the track is amazing or even good.

I have read through half of the book, but I doubt it'll cover something as specific as this.

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux I do not follow your argument. I never said the track is amazing or even good. I have read through half of the book, but I doubt it'll cover something as specific as this.

argument implies contradiction. Mine was only a comment.

But now I'm all confused - what is it that you are asking? Whether compressed music can cause anxiety? I guess it's possible - I read somewhere that Russians were testing effects of inaudible super low frequencies - and it made people very anxious, high strung and alert. Something about primal instincts. Could be some frequencies are triggering yours.

Lastly - yes, your subject line is misleading a bit.

1) pretty much ALL music is over-compressed these days. someone once told me when i first started producing "if you can't make it better, make it louder," and it's true. if your track isn't as good as the one before it, but is louder, people at clubs/events will get a false perception of more energy in the track and will be more likely to keep dancing.
the unfortunate thing is, generally only people who produce music have any idea that the music they're listening to is virtually dynamic free. the more mainstream client, who, lets be honest, makes up the greater portion of any market, doesn't know or care.

2) any one who craps on about how "music these days is shit" is a moron. whoop-de-fucking-doo if something was more experimental in the mid 90s? seriously, who gives a shit? most of the time experimental tracks sound shit anyway. look at the top 50 trance tunes of 2009 on beatport, and you'll find a plenty of variety.
musically speaking, these days trance is fucking sweet!

quote:

Originally posted by Lyft 2) any one who craps on about how "music these days is shit" is a moron. whoop-de-fucking-doo if something was more experimental in the mid 90s? seriously, who gives a shit? most of the time experimental tracks sound shit anyway. look at the top 50 trance tunes of 2009 on beatport, and you'll find a plenty of variety. musically speaking, these days trance is fucking sweet!

Well, that's, like, your opinion, man.

quote:

Originally posted by Lyft 1) pretty much ALL music is over-compressed these days. someone once told me when i first started producing "if you can't make it better, make it louder," and it's true. if your track isn't as good as the one before it, but is louder, people at clubs/events will get a false perception of more energy in the track and will be more likely to keep dancing. the unfortunate thing is, generally only people who produce music have any idea that the music they're listening to is virtually dynamic free. the more mainstream client, who, lets be honest, makes up the greater portion of any market, doesn't know or care. 2) any one who craps on about how "music these days is shit" is a moron. whoop-de-fucking-doo if something was more experimental in the mid 90s? seriously, who gives a shit? most of the time experimental tracks sound shit anyway. look at the top 50 trance tunes of 2009 on beatport, and you'll find a plenty of variety. musically speaking, these days trance is fucking sweet!

so how does that work out then, genius?

/\ Simple enough.

He likes overcompressed music, in fact, he thinks its pretty "fvcking sweet" lmao.

quote:

Originally posted by Lyft 1) pretty much ALL music is over-compressed these days. someone once told me when i first started producing "if you can't make it better, make it louder," and it's true. if your track isn't as good as the one before it, but is louder, people at clubs/events will get a false perception of more energy in the track and will be more likely to keep dancing. the unfortunate thing is, generally only people who produce music have any idea that the music they're listening to is virtually dynamic free. the more mainstream client, who, lets be honest, makes up the greater portion of any market, doesn't know or care. 2) any one who craps on about how "music these days is shit" is a moron. whoop-de-fucking-doo if something was more experimental in the mid 90s? seriously, who gives a shit? most of the time experimental tracks sound shit anyway. look at the top 50 trance tunes of 2009 on beatport, and you'll find a plenty of variety. musically speaking, these days trance is fucking sweet!

We're talking about the production, not the composition. Learn what the difference is.
I do agree with you on the "waaaaaaaah waaaaaaaah everything back in the day was better" bullshit though. Guess what? It's not new and it's not exclusive to EDM. Get used to the elitist and hipster fags in any genre.

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